Security and strategic guru K Subrahmanyam died in New Delhi [ Images ] on Wednesday after a brief illness. He was 82.

Subrahmanyam who is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter, breathed his last at the All India [ Images ] Institute of Medical Sciences, family sources said.

He was suffering from cancer and diabetes but the end came after a heart attack, they said.

Subrahmanyam, a prominent international strategic affairs analyst, journalist and a former Indian civil servant, headed the Kargil [ Images ] Committee and was the founding director of the security think-tank Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.

He also headed the Prime Minister's Task Force on Global Strategic Developments.

HUUUGE loss... RIP and a big thank you for all the services rendered to Desh.

It is an irreparable loss. Nobody else can take his place. What an incisive analytical skills and immense knowledge did he possess. His contribution, both as a civil servant and later as a strategic analyst, is immense. Truly, India has lost one of her greatest sons. May you RIP sir. Pranams.

A deep loss indeed. One of the finest strategic thinkers in the post-independence India, and the loss will certainly be felt. He was apolitical, and had the respect of the entire spectrum of the strategic community. He declined Padma Bhushan in 1999. Such was the greatness of this man.